The company began in 1984 as PC’s Limited, selling IBM PC-compatible computers and grossing $73 million in its first year of operation. In 1986, Michael Dell brought in Lee Walker, a venture capitalist, to serve as president and chief operating officer. The company changed its name to Dell Computer Corporation in 1988 and began expanding globally.

On July 1, 1988, Dell went public. In 1992, Fortune magazine included Dell on its list of the world’s 500 largest companies, making Michael Dell one of the youngest CEOs of a Fortune 500 company at the time.

By 2007, Dell had become the top shipper of PC monitors in the world. In 2013, Dell was listed at number 51 on the Fortune 500 list. Dell’s subsidiaries include Alienware Corporation, Compellent Technologies Inc., Force 10 Networks, Inc., Perot Systems Corporation, SonicWALL Inc., and Secure Works Inc.

CrunchBase

OverviewDell is an end-to-end solutions provider that has evolved from a PC manufacturer to an enterprise IT solutions partner with servers, storage, networking,software and services that enable customers to drive results, create competitive advantage and expand their opportunities.
Dell was acquired by founder Michael Dell and Silverlake Partners after having gone public in 1988.